


Playing with these bows and arrows

by KittiDot



Category: Love Island (Video Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-18 13:00:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20639582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittiDot/pseuds/KittiDot
Summary: Leah was very aware that meeting him here might have been a bad idea. Depending on how this conversation ended, she may never want to step foot through it’s green framed door again. Never hear the tinkle of the bell announcing her arrival.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is some pure post-island Noah angst dedicated to a Love Island MC who has had a very messy Noah playthrough.
> 
> Be warned - there will be no happy ending. Check out 'Old Pages and Dusty I Love Yous' by NoodlePie for happier post-island Noah times.
> 
> Chapters 2 & 3 on their way to cleanse my soul of the angst!

** _The End_ **

Leah sat in a booth in a quiet corner of her favourite cafe. Hidden away in the Brighton Lanes, it was unusually quiet, and a haven of calm that afternoon, which was a welcome surprise. She looked at the artwork on the walls. Quirky prints with vegan puns were framed amidst photos of animals in over-elaborate gold gilded frames. 

“I love you from my head to ma toes”

Exclaimed one print, with a drawing of two tomatoes cuddling, a giant love heart above their heads. Leah made a mental note to bring Chelsea here, imagining her glee at the cuteness of the place, its bunting hanging in the window and the kitsch cat shaped salt and pepper shakers on the table. 

On the other hand, Leah was very aware that meeting _him_ here might have been a bad idea. Depending on how this conversation ended, she may never want to step foot through it’s green framed door again. Never hear the tinkle of the bell announcing her arrival. 

The text from Noah had arrived on her phone five days ago. It was friendly but formal. Although she had a feeling that was just Noah’s messaging style. No abbreviations. Full words. A handwritten letter in a mobile text format. If he could have sealed it with wax and had a carrier pigeon deliver it, she was sure he would. 

“Hi Leah. I’ve really missed you. Can we catch up? I could visit you in Brighton if that isn't too weird? Let me know what you think. Noah x”

Something strange happened in her stomach when the text arrived. It wasn’t the flutter of butterflies she’d felt so many time in the villa anytime he looked at her. Touched her. Instead, it was the feeling of boulders bouncing around. Jagged edges stabbing at her insides. 

It had taken two bottles of red wine, and a teary facetime with Priya before she’d responded. 

“Sure. Next Friday? I’ll treat to a turmeric latte.”

“Great! I’ll look up the trains and let you know what time I’ve arrived. I’ll aim for late afternoon. Looking forward to sampling the Leah menu of hot drinks! Noah x”

Her love of turmeric lattes had been a joke they’d shared in the villa. Noah was a classic coffee kind of man. He’d been both amused and bemused by the list of hot drinks Leah was reminiscing over every day in the villa. 

She missed him. 

The past few days had been difficult. Her concentration at work was non-existent and her line manager had summoned her for ‘a talk’ after she’d failed to meet an important deadline. The problem was, that since the villa, nothing had felt so important. The media backlash against her had been brutal. Her already fragile relationship with her family suffered significantly, so mortified were they with some of the things that were said about her. Some friendships had been lost as people she thought she could count on had sold stories about her past. Then there had been the inevitable selling of sordid details by two of her ex-partners. All of it exaggerated. Some of it plain bullshit. But it was all aimed at painting a very specific picture of a man-eating, friend hating bitch. 

Luckily, her close friends had stood by her. Had been the rocks she needed to lean on when it all got too much. She counted the other islanders as close friends now too. Well, with one major exception. They had rallied around her. Given up their time to be interviewed by the press. Refuted every accusation thrown at her. Even Blake and Jakub had been supportive in interviews, trying to get the message out to the general public that things weren’t always as they seem on television. 

The first television appearance she’d committed to with Noah had been an absolute car crash. They were being interviewed on a weekday morning TV show, by two institutions of British daytime television. Leah’s spider senses were tingling the second they sat down on the god awful sofa. The interviewers were a married couple, and the female presenter had a pinched face, and a demeanor as cold as ice when she sat down in front of them before the cameras were rolling. 

“Morning” she sniffed. 

Her husband had been slightly more amicable, but the smile that sat on his lips didn’t reach his eyes. Leah had the strong suspicion that they had just walked unwittingly into a bear trap and were going to have to gnaw their own feet off if they were going to be able to escape. 

She had looked at Noah, her eyes wide, trying to beam a message of alarm into his head, but he had just smiled that beautiful soft smile and took her hand in his. Holding it reassuringly and stroking gently with his thumb, knowing that had always soothed her nerves in the past. For the short length of time they had actually been ‘together’ he had quickly learned how every part of her body responded to him. He could make her laugh with a tickle in just the right spot. Calm and soothe her with a stroke of his gentle hands. Make her wet with only a smolder in his eyes and a kiss. 

She had relaxed at the touch of his hand, and turned to the presenters to give them a dazzling smile. It was met with the same fixed smile from the male presenter, and a sniff from the woman who was actually looking down her nose at Leah at that moment. She had heard the phrase before, but never seen it physically realised. And here it was.

“Ok everyone, we’re going live in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. And we’re live”

The male interviewer had started speaking, his smooth Irish accent making him seem friendly and approachable. 

“We’re joined by Love Island runners up Noah and Leah, a week after the big final. Welcome back to the UK guys! How does it feel to have been the most controversial couple in Love Island history?”

The question was asked in a friendly and upbeat way, but it landed like a punch to her stomach. Her mouth had gone dry and she wasn’t sure she could speak. Noah had squeezed her hand and answered, faltering at first, but maintaining a calm appearance.

“We uh. I uh. I think we’re just looking forward to moving forward and seeing what we have here. I know that a lot of people have opinions on our Love Island journey, but honestly we both learned some things about ourselves, who we are, want we want. And now here we are, and it's great”.

The female presenter had turned her steely blue eyes on Leah.

“And what about you Leah? Your ex-boyfriend claims that you did the same thing to him. That you broke up a happy relationship he had been in before you through manipulating him and then dumping him after a couple of months because you got bored. Is that what has happened here? Can Noah expect the same treatment?”

Leah had opened and closed her mouth a few times before finding any words.

“That’s not really how that all happened…”

“Oh? So it’s not true that your ex was in a relationship when you met?”

“Yes, I mean no. I mean. He was but he wasn’t happy and we err”

The male presenter stepped in at this point. 

“I think we’ve got some exclusive footage from the show, never before seen on TV. This might be difficult to watch for both of you, but I think you need to see the reality of your actions”

All eyes turned to the monitors in the studio. Leah felt all air leave her body and Noah had let go of her hand suddenly, dropped it almost, as an image of Hope filled each screen. Hope crying, claiming to have been heartbroken. Never able to trust again. Bending over and clutching her stomach. Rocking backwards and forwards. Always crying. Her big tear-filled eyes staring into the camera lens.

Leah knew her well enough to be able to see through the drama. Knew full well that she’d already hooked up with Lucas on numerous occasions. Knew the weight that lifted from Noah’s shoulders when he was out of her control. Knew that Hope was cashing in on every possible opportunity to paint herself as the broken woman who had put herself back together again and come out stronger than ever. Even had a book deal in the works already ‘How to overcome betrayal and be a boss bitch’ was the working title. But it looked bad. They looked like monsters who had destroyed the person filling the screens around them. 

The rest of the interview had been a blur of awkward questions. When it was finally over they had walked slowly offset and her agent had come up to her, ushered her away from Noah, and pulled her into a hug, whispering into her ear

“I think we need to get you some appearances with other islanders. Give the public anger time to cool before putting your relationship out there”

Leah had looked at her stunned. “But..Noah and I have only just...I don’t want to be apart from him yet.

“Darling, think of Noah in all of this. Think of his brother and sister. It’s not fair to drag them through this. All the stories from your past. It doesn’t look good. We need to protect both of your images. Separately”.

There was that punch in the stomach again. She’d met his family the first day back in the UK, and they were so sweet. But even that day they’d gone for a walk to a park and had a group of teenage girls bellowing ‘slag’ at her. She’d been mortified. Noah had told her not to worry. But his brothers face had been shocked. His confused face was going to be burned into her head for a while. 

Leah nodded slowly at her agent and left the studio without saying goodbye to Noah. Her hand still felt the sensation of him dropping it. Her head felt dizzy. He’d text her as soon as he’d realised she wasn’t in the studio anymore.

“Leah. Where are you? We need to talk”

There were those words. We need to talk.

“I’ve got another appointment I forgot. I’ll call you tonight”.

But she hadn’t. It had been another four days, three television appearances with islanders other than Noah, and two more newspapers scandals before they spoke. In that time she had convinced herself they couldn’t be happy. That what had happened in the villa was a sign that they shouldn’t be together. 

She’d had a lot of gin, which gave her the confidence to press answer rather than ignore when she saw his number calling for the hundredth time that week. 

“Leah...”

“Noah I can’t do this. Us. I can’t. I fuck everything up. I can’t. I’m sorry”

“Leah. Can we meet? Talk about this properly. I care about you. You might have noticed that I fuck things up to. This whole situation is my fault. Not you. Me”

She’d heard his voice break slightly and the thought that she was causing him to be upset was too much. Those calm golden eyes shouldn’t hold sadness. She’d never blamed him for anything that happened in the villa. They’d both made mistakes. Throwing blame wasn’t going to help. 

“Noah. We both know this is the right thing to do. We’ll speak soon, ok? For now you focus on you”.

“Leah, don’t do this”.

And then she said something she didn’t mean. Knowing it would end this and free him from the negative spiral they were in. 

“Noah. You should have picked me from the start. I can’t forgive you. Your indecision. I can’t forgive what has happened. I can’t...be with you”.

And she had ended the call. Throwing her phone across the room. Hidden in her flat for the next week, canceling all public engagements. Sat crying with Priya, Lottie and Chelsea for hours. They’d set up a care rota for her. Someone there at all times, curling up with her and stroking her hair, cooking food she didn’t eat. Bobby had visited one time but he’d clearly also spent time with Noah, and had tried to convince her she needed to speak to him. She’d shouted at Bobby then. Told him to fuck off and get the hell out of her flat. Something she’d never thought she would do. His eyes had looked so...hurt. But he’d left and then the next day flowers and a cupcake had arrived at her door with a note.

_I’m sorry Babe, I shouldn’t have done that. I’m here for you when you need me. Always.  
Bobby xx_

But that was all then. And this was now. 

It was only three weeks since that phone call with Noah. But it seemed like months. The passing of time had seemed skewed since the first moment she stepped into that villa. A day was a week, a week a month. She had thought that would end once they were free from Mind Game Island, but the sense of timelessness had continued to follow her, preventing her from becoming truly grounded again. They had shared a few texts, a couple of phone calls. They were friendly. Empty. If he tried to fill them with emotion she closed down, and she knew he had quickly learned that if he wanted her to engage he needed to keep every communication light. She couldn't afford to slip and fall. She knew that. 

The bell above the door tinkled and her stomach flip-flopped. Her eyes looked up. 

And there he was.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He found an empty bench on the promenade, and quietly sat, his elbows on his knees and his fingers templed under his chin as he leaned forward and watched the waves gently coming to shore and then back again. 
> 
> He wasn’t sure what he was expecting from today. It wasn’t a reconciliation, he was sure of that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We travel with Noah to the cafe. Chapter 3 where the two finally meet and we learn more about what happened between them in the villa is coming soon.

** _Stuck in the middle_ **

Noah got off the train at Brighton and took the downhill walk to the lanes. He’d visited Brighton many times over the years to take his brother and sister to the beach, go to a gig under the pier or spend happy hours browsing some of the vinyl figure shops that were scattered through the Lanes. 

He’d always loved Brighton. There was a relaxed ‘let everyone be who they want to be’ attitude that meant he’d never felt uncomfortable or pressured to be anything other than his toy collecting self. He remembered the day he found out that Leah was from Brighton. It fitted her so well as a place. He’d always teased her about her love of the hot drinks that filled the menu of every quirky vegan shop. Secretly he’d thought many times about how perfect it would be to sit with her in a quiet cafe, talking about everything and nothing all at once, sipping their ginger turmeric lattes and putting the world to rights. He’d wanted nothing more than that from the first time they’d spent some alone time together in the villa. That one date. The date that was so early in their island experience that he really should have been able to do something about it.

But he hadn’t. And a little part of him hated himself for that.

He shook his head as he walked. Bobby and Rahim had supported him so much over the past few weeks, tried to stop him blaming himself for everything that happened. He knew they were right. There was no going back and erasing history. Rahim had tried using another infinity stone analogy to help him see sense but it had fallen flat. Bobby had started talking about spilt milk, baking cakes and...he tried to remember the third analogy...something to do with...the genie in Aladdin? But the message had been clear. He needed to move on and focus on the good in his life. 

He’d seen Leah on TV a few times over the past couple of weeks. The Saturday Kitchen she’d been on with Chelsea and Bobby had been hilarious. Chelsea’s questions about what they were making, along with Bobby’s cooking comedy routine and Leah’s resigned looks at the camera each time chaos ensued, had him laughing until his stomach hurt. But then it just hurt. 

He wanted to be there too. 

He’d been on that exact show the week before, but with Rahim. It had been great. Funny. The hosts had teased him about his vinyl toy collection, but then produced one in his likeness as a gift, which was just about the best thing he owned.

But something had been missing. She wasn’t there. 

She seemed happy when he saw her on TV, but Bobby’s face the day after visiting her had told him that all wasn’t well. Bobby had refused to talk about anything she’d said. Just kept saying that he wanted to be there to support both of them, but not getting involved in anything between them. Noah knew Bobby hated conflict and hadn’t pushed for any more information.

He’d thought about jumping on a train and travelling to Brighton to surprise her a few times but couldn’t face the thought of her turning him away. The friendly but formal tone of their messages and brief phone conversations had told him that Leah had built a wall up and was determined not to let him through. But he’d had to try one more time to get her to engage and see him in person, so he’d messaged her and asked to meet up.

The wait for the reply had been agonising. And then she’d said yes and for a moment his heart had been full of happiness at the thought of seeing her again. Being able to touch her. Smell her.

Her smell had always intoxicated him in the villa. When he’d asked what it was she’d told him it was Myrrh and Tonka by a woman whose name he’d forgotten. But even after a swim or a shower he knew when she was near. She’d told him the same. That he had a spicy scent that made her weak at the knees. 

He looked at his watch and sighed. He was early. Really early. As he walked through the streets he could feel the eyes of passers-by watching him, hear some whispers.

“You don’t think he’s here to see _her_ do you?”

He put his head down and kept walking, but quicker. The weather was still warm and he was regretting his decision to wear the soft grey jumper that he’d chosen from his wardrobe that morning. He walked straight by one of his favourite shops, not knowing where he was going, but not wanting to stop. 

He walked straight through the city centre, and kept going until he could feel the cool breeze of the sea. He loved sitting by water and being alone with his thoughts, and today seemed like a sensible time to allow himself that space. 

He found an empty bench on the promenade, and quietly sat, his elbows on his knees and his fingers templed under his chin as he leaned forward and watched the waves gently coming to shore and then back again. 

He wasn’t sure what he was expecting from today. It wasn’t a reconciliation, he was sure of that. He didn’t think he had the words in him to mend the damage he’d done. The boys had suggested that maybe she hadn’t meant what she’d said. Maybe she was hurting inside and lashed out. But he wouldn’t blame her for a second if every word had been true.

He hadn’t been true to himself in the villa, he knew that. He’d been totally entranced by Hope in the first few days, had become so serious so quickly, and then spent the next 24 days feeling trapped, not wanting to let people down - both inside and outside of the villa, and worrying that he was setting a bad example for his brother. The torture of being around Leah but unable to be with her had been unbearable.

He sat back and a slight smile played on his lips when he remembered the first time they had truly given in to what was between them. He lost track of most days in the villa but he’d never forget this night. 

Day 26. They’d had a brief flirtation in the lounge area that evening but it hadn’t gone any further. The need to kiss her had burned through his body, but his sense of obligation to Hope had meant that his head ruled his heart and although her presence alone was making him hard he’d gone to bed. But sleep wasn’t his friend that night. Sharing a bed with Hope but lying there thinking about what he wanted to do with a girl sleeping a few beds away, curled up in the arms of another man, Lucas, had been deeply unsettling. 

His heart was racing and he was sure Hope would notice. The other islanders all seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Probably thankful that he wasn’t snoring. Not that his snoring was that bad, it had been grossly exaggerated. He frowned slightly, remembering the number of times Hope had told him he was slowly taking years off her life due to lack of sleep. 

So he laid there. His mind like a ball in a game of table tennis, moving from the angst of feeling trapped to the lust of wanting to taste every part of Leah, and then back again. He could feel things inside him stirring, waking up, dying down, and then awakening. It was exhausting.

He climbed out of bed. It was easy to avoid waking Hope. She was asleep at the furthest edge of the bed. It had been a few days since they had been close at night. Another sign things were broken between them. He picked his water bottle up and padded quietly to the kitchen to refill it. He could just see in the dark of the night, and when he got outside was surprised to see that the lights scattered around the garden were still shining, easily lighting hs way. Must be solar he thought to himself. 

He took his water bottle and made his way to the fire pit. It was still burning from earlier that evening when they’d had the shock eviction of Marisol and Graham. He remembered feeling that he would actually be relieved if Hope and his names were called last. But then he’d looked at Leah and realised that he didn’t want to go anywhere without her.

He watched the flames lick up, casting a gentle glow. The crackling as it burned was calming and he actually found that sleep was starting to creep through him. He yawned and stretched, but then stopped, his arms still raised, when he saw someone walking across the garden. They hadn’t seen him, and were walking in the direction of the pool loungers.

Leah.

He watched as she sat down on the edge of the pool, dangling her feet in the water, kicking them backwards and forwards. He wanted to sit next to her, to hold her. To tell her he could see what needed to happen for the first time, and that he was going to make it happen as soon as Hope was awake in the morning. 

He couldn’t sit and watch any longer. How hard could it be to resist touching her. They could just sit and talk. He wanted to hear her voice, to stay up all night talking to her. Learning about her. Knowing her.

He moved across the lawn but didn’t want to startle her and so he quietly spoke her name.   
Unfortunately the quiet approach didn’t work and Leah jumped up from where she sat, lost her footing and fell sideways into the pool. His heart jumped into his mouth and he ran over to the pool. 

“Leah!”

But when he reached the pool he saw that she was ok. Well, she looked furious, but she was treading water and seemed to be in one piece.

“Noah, what the actual fuck was that? My heart is just about hammering out of my chest”.

“Leah, god, I’m sorry. I was sat at the fire pit and saw you. I didn’t want to startle you so...uh...what can I do? Want a hand out of there?”

Leah still had a look of fury on her face.

“Noah. I’ll tell you what you can do”

“Anything”

“You can get your butt in this water with me so I’m not the only crazy fool having a moonlit swim in my sleepwear”.

Noah was often cautious, thinking before leaping. But he didn’t need to think twice at that moment, and he jumped straight in.

The water was still warm from the weeks of the Spanish sun, and it felt soothing around his body. He swam back to where Leah was now standing in the shallow end of the pool. He stood in front of her, the moonlight ensuring he was suddenly very aware of the fact her now wet red nightdress was clinging to every curve of her breasts. And even more aware just how much he wanted to kiss them.

Leah was staring at him, eyebrow raised in amusement. 

“Uhh Noah. You ok? Need resuscitation?”

“Um. Yes. Oh I mean no. Uh.”

He brought his eyes to hers. He wanted to kiss her. He was going to kiss her.

But before his heart could take over, Leah spoke again.

“Noah. What are you doing up? Shouldn’t you be asleep and keeping the rest of the room awake?”

“Har har”. He responded. And without thinking he reached forward to move a wet lock of hair behind her ear. His hand then rested at the top of her neck. He tried to move it away and break contact but he couldn’t. The electric buzz running up his hand at the feel of her skin was too much. Too delicious. 

“I’m awake because I can’t stop thinking about how much I want you. And how much I’ve messed this whole thing up”

Leah reached a hand up and put it to his cheek, gliding her thumb along his cheekbone and frowning at him thoughtfully.

“It’s not too late Noah. We’ll need to do the right thing by Lucas and Hope, but we can still do this. We don’t just have four days left in this villa. We have our whole lives. God that sounded chees…”

But Noah couldn’t wait a second more and he stopped her mid-word by holding her face in both of his hands and kissing her. It wasn’t their first kiss, but it was the first time every cell of his mind and body was invested in the touch of their lips. Nothing in him was resisting this time. His lips lightly kissed hers at first, marvelling at how soft her mouth felt, how sweet she tasted, but then she bit his bottom lip and the fire exploded inside him. 

Their kiss deepened as their tongues explored each other for the first time. Noah moved one of his hands from Leah’s face and grazed it down her body, feeling the curves of her body, before putting it on her lower back and drawing her closer to him. Leah did the smallest moan into his mouth but it was enough to drive him further into the passion that had taken over all senses and his hands went to her ass. They were standing in water up to their waists in the pool and within seconds Leah had let her feet leave the solid safety of the ground, and Noah had hoisted her up with his strong arms so that she could straddle his waist with her legs. She clung to him, her hands in his hair, her legs clinging to him like a spider monkey. Noah was aware just how hard he was becoming, how much he wanted to carry her to the side of the pool and be with her. In her. 

Noah raised her up further, supporting her comfortably in his strong arms, and reached forward to kiss her neck, running his tongue slowly up to her ear, before gently biting her ear lobe. She bucked her hips harder against him and he made a mental note to always pay attention to her ears. He’d kissed her collarbone, down her chest and then onto her breasts which were moving rapidly with her breathing. He’d found her nipple easily through the wet material and lightly bitten it, causing her to moan, throwing her head back before she had leaned forward again and whispered in his ear.

“Noah. I want you. Please”

Noah had never wanted to put her down. Never wanted to break that moment. 

But a voice on the promenade of Brighton broke him away from his memories of that night. 

“Noah, um, can I get a photo with you?”

Noah blinked a couple of times and turned to look at a girl who must have been about 12. He registered a moment of alarm that a girl that age knew who he was, particularly in light of the images from the swimming pool encounter that had been shown on the TV the next day. 

But he brushed his concern away, put a warm smile on his face and nodded. The girl was scooched up to him before he could blink, and the selfie was taken.

“Thanks Noah. You were my favourite boy. Honestly. The people that have been mean about you and Leah didn’t understand. Didn’t see how unhappy you were before”.

Noah blinked. Afraid for a minute that he might cry sat on a bench in Brighton. 

“Thank you. That means a lot” he managed to say.

The girl ran back to her friends who were giggling a few metres away. Noah sighed, ripped away from his happy reminiscing, and looked at his watch. The cafe was about twenty minutes away and it was time for a slow walk back. 

He got up and made his way back, walking through the city centre and the busy shops. A shop selling small cacti in quirky planters caught his eye and he stopped to buy one for Leah. He knew she loved cacti and succulents. Had told him they were the only plant she couldn’t kill. 

She’d told him that fact after the swimming pool kiss, he remembered. They’d been talking about what it would be like to be back in their own space after leaving the villa, and she’d been worried that her cacti would have been lonely.

He chose a cacti in a planter with a cute bear face. He also remembered she loves bears. 

His heart hurt again. All this information stored, treasured, carefully filed on a shelf with ‘Leah’ written on it. 

They’d stayed up all night talking after the night of the pool kiss. Things hadn’t gone much further. He smiled to himself at his own lie. They’d gone a little further. He’d tasted every part of her that night. But they hadn’t slept together. That had come later when they’d ended their respective relationships. But the talking had been the most wonderful night of his life. A sense of closeness and being that he’d never experienced with any other partner. 

Holding the cactus bear in his hand he walked to the street where he knew the cafe would be. Where he knew Leah would be. 

His heart pounded in his chest as he approached the green wooden door. He smiled when he saw the window adorned with bunting and the promise that no cows were harmed in the making of the menu. It was very Leah. 

He missed her.

He took a deep breath and opened the door, so tense that he didn’t even hear the tinkle of the bell above the door. He walked in.

And there she was.


End file.
